We are nearing the end of this strange and special year, 2020. Time to reflect on the status quo. 20 people with links to Ghent University were selected at random. They tell us what 2020 meant to them, what they will carry over to next year and above all: what they hope for in 2021.
Christel Moons is a professor of applied ethology and animal welfare. During the first lockdown she didn’t really have time for a new hobby, but in between she’s learned how to install tile skirting boards. “It’s not easy. But I am rather proud that I can do it now.” (laughs)
How was 2020 for you?
“Since March, it feels like I have had to constantly flip flop between the accelerator and the brakes, both professionally and personally. You want to move forward, but you have to constantly switch. One minute you’re teaching a crowded auditorium, the next, students are sitting at home and I’m in a ghost-like classroom. Fortunately not everything was negative; indeed I think it has also been very educational. We have experienced a digital learning curve like never before. In my personal life, I also had to constantly switch. I had several weekends planned with the motorcycle club this year, but they ended up always having to be rescheduled. Hopefully, it will be for next year.”
What have you achieved this year?
“I think we have achieved a lot with our team, but not as much as we had hoped. One of my PhD students was in the final stages of her research on the detection of seizures in humans by dogs. For that research, she worked at UZ Gent, but unfortunately, it was closed. Fortunately, we came up with a new idea and she was able to start with a new subject: how people are dealing with the corona measures and how pets are helping with that.”
Who is the most impressive person at Ghent University for you?
“It’s not just one person … for me, the DIDI working group is team of the year. That’s the digital working group at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The team helped transform our teaching activities and actively supported us throughout the entire process. Without them it would not have been possible, they deserve huge praise for their work.” What achievement are you most proud of? “I am quite proud of the fact that this year I have taken steps towards a better work-life balance. I am 43-years-old and would like to do this job until my retirement, but I’ve had signs from my body that a break is needed every now and then. Sometimes you just need to completely get away from everything. I realize that now. The question remains, of course, whether I will be able to maintain this balance once everything returns to “normal”. In any case, I'm going to try.”
What do you hope for 2021?
“Stop all animal cruelty, I know that sounds a little naive (laughs)? Leaving aside the pandemic for a moment: less polarization in society. I am genuinely concerned about that. When it comes to the corona crisis, I hope that we can quickly go back to our normal life. And that I can see different parts of the world again next year, with or without a motorcycle.”
Suppose you could go back to January 1, 2020. What would you do?
“Tidy up my desk (laughs)! It is often full of meeting notes, scientific articles and magazines. I usually do that in early January, but this year I decided to postpone it, not knowing we would be in lockdown a few months later. Now it really is a bit chaotic. If only I had known (laughs). No, seriously. I wouldn’t change much about what I did then. What has come would have come anyway. Maybe I would have enjoyed more trips when I still could. And I would go to the hairdresser. That is really too long ago now.”
What do you wish other people at Ghent University in 2021?
“You can’t help but wish others good health this year. In addition, I wish all a healthy dose of resilience, because we all need that right now. Stay positive, it will be fine.”
20 people with links to Ghent University were selected at random. They tell us what 2020 meant to them, what they will carry over to next year and above all: what they hope for in 2021.
Read also
Alumni in search for the perfect potato with AI
Barely two years ago, Jarne Bogaert (25) graduated as a civil engineer from Ghent University. Today, he and two fellow students run the Ghent-based AI company Polysense, which helps food companies produce less waste.
Alumnus Serhat: “The best thing you can do is pass on what you have learned to students”
What if, after graduating with a degree in medicine, you chose not to take the safe path, but to venture into the unknown? Ghent University alumnus Serhat Yildirim moved from Ghent to Harvard in the United States with a Fayat scholarship, where he discovered that the world was much bigger than what he had known back home.
Student entrepreneur’s glove set to revolutionise the world of combat sports
Pain is almost inevitable in combat sports and Ghent University alumnus Ashkan Joshghani (33) knows this all too well. A sports injury resulted in an innovation that extends far beyond the mat. It is known as Exoligamentz.
Ghent University Alumnus of the year Stefan Hertmans: "University has emancipated me"
Acclaimed author, essayist and poet Stefan Hertmans has strong ties to Ghent University as an alumnus, and later as a doctoral student and guest lecturer. To this day, academic research has played a key role in his work, and the foundations for this were laid at Ghent University. "My philosophical education has been essential in my thinking. The university has given me the ability to see a form of truth in doubt."
